The barber introduces himself as "Tony" and tells the audience that he is a teacher and a barber. He tells the story of how he came to be a barber and how he met the girl he works with, "Li lin" . He explains that the girl is a victim of the "hony onna" , which causes bone spurs to grow from the joints of those who are cursed by it. The abbot of the temple tells the barber that he must free the girl from her resentment within seven days. After seven days, the abbot says, a "certain master" will visit the temple. The barber tells the abbot that he has never been to a school and that he doesn't know anyone who runs a barber shop in the area. He asks the abbot if he has ever had a haircut or taught in a school, and the abbot tells him that he does. He then asks the barber to wipe the "hell" out of the scissors that the barber used to cut the girl's hair. He says that he had a severe injury, but he managed to run so fast because he was "too tolerant of pain". The barber wonders if the girl has ever talked to anyone, and wonders if she is the girl who ran away from the barber's shop. He realizes that the room where the girl was found has the name of the girl on it, and he wants to examine her body.